Four Inch gun from HMS Lance photographed in the museum at Portsmouth naval base on 26 October 2014.On 5 August 1914 this gun fired the fist shot in the war at sea which would result in the loss of 43,950 Royal Navy personnel when hours after the outbreak of hostilities HMS Lance engaged the German Minelayer Konigin Luise which was setting mines off the Dutch Coast.

The light cruiser Amphion and destroyers of the 3rd Flotilla spotted the Konigen Luise at 1025hrs on the morning of the 5th after information gained from the crew of a fishing boat and the destroyers Lance and Landrail moved to investigate. Konigen retreated into a rain squall but the two destroyers gave chase and Lance engaged the German ship. Amphion also soon closed and opened fire, under heavy fire the German Captain ordered the scuttling of his ship which rolled over and sank at 1222hrs, Konigen Luise was the first naval casualty of World War I. The British ships continued their patrol before heading back to port where their course took them through a minefield the Konigen Luise had previously laid. At 0645 hrs on 6 August 1914 the Amphion struck one of the mines. Heavily damaged she was abandoned her crew being taken off by the escorting destroyers. Amphion later drifted back into the minefield struck another mine at 0703hrs and sank becoming the first British naval war loss.HMS Lance was scrapped in November 1921.

HMS Lance was an Laforey class destroyer ordered on 29 March 1912 from John Thornycroft and was laid down on 1 August 1912. The ship was launched on 25 February 1914 and completed in August 1914.She had an overall length of 81.94 m with a 8.43m beam and 3.20m draught.She was fitted with three QF Mk IV (102 mm) guns, a single QF 2 Pdr pom-pom and four torpedo tubes in two twin mounts.Displacement of the class was up to 1300tons and she was powered by Parsons steam turbines (24,500 shp) powering twin propellers giving a top speed of 29 Knots. Total complement was 73 personnel.

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My interest in ships and the sea started back in 2006 when I worked for a couple of years on the banks of the River Mersey. I have since been on a couple of cruises around the Med and in the Far East and have started to take more interest in researching and photographing some of the ships and other vessels seen on my travels.